


Snakes and Lions

by Redrikki



Series: Houses Alike in Dignity [1]
Category: Downton Abbey
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Bisexuality, Canon Gay Character, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-23
Updated: 2015-09-23
Packaged: 2018-04-23 00:00:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4855607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Redrikki/pseuds/Redrikki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In Thomas, Jimmy finds that courage isn't exclusive to Gryffindors.  Now if only he could find some himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Snakes and Lions

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Thommy Week 2015 AU challenge.

Thomas’s face was still a bloody mess when Jimmy slipped into the Hospital Wing. The sight of it filled him with a sort of horrified shame which he quickly buried under some righteous anger. It had been hours since the fight in Hogsmeade, why hadn’t Clarkson healed him already? What was the point of having magic if he was just going to leave Thomas to suffer like a Muggle?

“Jimmy?” asked Thomas as he struggled to sit up. “What are you doing here?”

The mingled shock and longing in his voice made it impossible for Jimmy to look him in the eye. “I wanted to see how you were getting on,” he explained to the floor, tugging on the cuffs of his robe. Jimmy took a deep breath and looked up, only to find Thomas determinately staring at his blanket-covered lap. That was good, it made it easier. “You saved me, Thomas. You were so very brave.” Jimmy watched Thomas’s blush spread across his cheeks. “I didn’t think our sort went in for heroics.”

“Our sort?” Thomas asked sharply, his head jerking up.

Jimmy flushed at the insinuation of what they might have in common. He cleared his throat and tugged meaningfully on his green and silver striped tie.

Thomas smiled wryly. “Bravery’s not exclusive to Gryffindor, no matter what they like to claim.”

Jimmy knew that. Slytherin though he was, Thomas had always been brave. After The Kiss, when Jimmy tried to get him expelled, he had sat through their meeting with the headmaster with his chin up and his head unbowed. He hadn’t so much as flinched when Professor Carson said he was revolting and foul, just quietly replied “I’m not the same as you, Professor, but I’m not foul.” As angry as Jimmy had been, he’d nearly respected Thomas for that.

For months after, Jimmy had lived in fear of the older boy. He had kept waiting for the hex in the back or some kind of elaborate prank to aimed at getting _him_ expelled. He’d guarded his glass at the table and never ate off of any plate Thomas had handed him in case he tried to dose Jimmy with a love potion. But he hadn’t done any of that. Instead, Thomas had quietly swallowed every insult Jimmy had thrown at him and then sprung out of the shadows outside the Hog’s Head to rescue Jimmy from a pair of ambushers. “You were following me, weren’t you?”

Thomas shrugged uncomfortably and resumed his study of his lap. “I like to keep an eye out. I overheard them talking about paying you back for making them lose a bet on the last Quidditch match and you were in the bad part of town.” He took a deep breath and looked Jimmy straight in the eye for the first time in the entire conversation. “So, yes. Yes, I was following you.”

After everything, the idea of being stalked by Thomas shouldn’t feel as comforting as it did. “Why did you do that?”

“You know why.”

Yes, he did. Thomas had saved him because, despite how Jimmy had been acting, Thomas was still sweet on him. Because apparently loyalty wasn’t to exclusive Hufflepuffs. Jimmy wasn’t sure what he’d ever done to inspire that kind of devotion. The sheer weight of it was crushing. What did the other boy expect from him? What did Jimmy expect from himself? “Thomas, I like girls.” 

Thomas nodded, looking away. “I know,” he said quietly.

Jimmy grimaced. Everyone in the whole school knew about his failed efforts to get up Ivy’s skirt. What none of them knew was that he’d lost his virginity to his sexy neighbor Mrs. Anstruther over the holidays. It had been absolutely brilliant but it hadn’t halted Thomas Barrow’s slow invasion of Jimmy’s brain. Once he had gotten over his watchful paranoia, Jimmy had found himself just watching Thomas in the halls, in the common room, and at meals for no particular reason at all. Sometimes in class he’d found himself wishing they were in the same year so he could watch Thomas then too. It was maddening, especially since he couldn’t tell anyone about it without sounding like a hypocritical ass after the fuss he’d raised over The Kiss. 

As awkward as this was, now was the perfect time to deal with the whole situation if only he could find the right words. “I like girls, but…” he trailed off. _I like you too, and possibly that dark-haired Keeper from Puddlemere United_? The words were right there, but Jimmy couldn’t quite force them out his mouth.

“It’s alright, Jimmy,” said Thomas. “I wasn’t expecting you to fancy me, but I should very much like us to be friends.”

Jimmy’s breath left him in a rush. Friendship was all right. He could work with that. “Friends then,” he offered with a relieved smile.

Thomas’s answering smile was hopeful and sweet and set the cut on his lip bleeding again. Jimmy bit his own lip as he watched Thomas blot up the blood. That was one thing for this healing-like-a-Muggle business, Jimmy supposed. Maybe by the time his lips healed, Jimmy might actually find the courage to return Thomas’s kiss.


End file.
